How does virgin coconut oil improve your cholesterol levels?

Research led by scientists from Federal University in Nigeria has found that virgin coconut oil can improve lipid profile, based on animal studies. The study, which was published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, investigated the effects of a diet supplemented with virgin coconut oil in vivo.

Studies that validate the health benefits of virgin coconut oil are limited.

The team looked at how supplementing a diet with virgin coconut oil (VCO) can impact the lipid profile, hepatic antioxidant status, hepatorenal function, and cardiovascular risk indices in healthy rats.

For the study, researchers assigned the rats into three treatment groups, namely: control, 10 percent VCO-supplemented diet, and 15 percent VCO-supplemented diet. The experiment ran for five weeks.

Rats that were supplemented with VCO showed a significant reduction in total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein levels. In addition, malondialdehyde — the lipid peroxidation marker — was also significantly reduced.

On the other hand, high-density lipoprotein levels, on the other hand, markedly went up, and cardiovascular risk indices improved. Hepatic antioxidant enzymes — including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) — was also increased.